Delaware man fights extradition in Edinboro case

Andrew Baker faces a conspiracy charge in a reported robbery attempt connected to a 2015 shooting that turned fatal.

Tim Hahn @ETNHahn

A former Edinboro University of Pennsylvania student charged in a reported attempted robbery connected to a fatal shooting at an off-campus apartment in 2015 is fighting extradition to Pennsylvania.

Andrew J. Baker, 22, of Wilmington, Delaware, who is expected to be a witness for Erie County prosecutors in their case against accused shooter Devin L. Stevenson, was picked up recently in Delaware on an arrest warrant, issued by the Edinboro Police Department on July 5, on a first-degree felony count of conspiracy to commit robbery, according to police and the Erie County District Attorney's Office. Details on Baker's apprehension were not available Friday, but District Attorney Jack Daneri said Baker did not waive his extradition to Pennsylvania to face the charge.

Daneri said his office is preparing paperwork for Edinboro police to travel to Delaware, where they will present evidence and testimony at an as-yet unscheduled hearing to have Baker released to be brought to Erie County.

Edinboro police charge in the criminal complaint against Baker that he conspired with another former Edinboro University student, O'Shae Imes, to take marijuana from Stevenson at a Meadville Street apartment on the evening of March 20, 2015. A black metal pellet gun, which resembled a real handgun, was brandished during the attempted robbery, according to information in the criminal complaint filed by Edinboro police Patrolman Landon Silva.

Police charge that Stevenson pulled out a gun during the attempted robbery and shot Baker in the shoulder and Imes, then 22, in the torso and in the leg. Imes died in his native Rochester, New York, on March 19, 2016.

Stevenson, 23, of Oil City, was initially charged with offenses including attempted homicide in the shooting. But the charges were withdrawn after Imes' death, and on July 18 Silva filed a new set of criminal charges that includes one count of criminal homicide.

Stevenson was arraigned on the new charges on July 18 and is in the Erie County Prison without bond. He is scheduled to appear before McKean District Judge Denise Stuck-Lewis for his preliminary hearing on Monday afternoon.

According to information in the affidavit of probable cause filed with the new criminal complaint against Stevenson, officers who responded to the shooting found Imes on the ground inside the apartment and located Baker at a nearby residence. An occupant of the apartment who was inside when the shooting happened told officers that someone knocked at the front door, and the occupant said he heard Imes say, “Give it to me." The occupant said he heard six or seven gunshots before Baker was heard saying, “Why did you shoot?”, and an unknown voice said, “Give me my bag,” Silva wrote in the affidavit.

About one hour after the shooting Edinboro police were sent to meet a person at the Edinboro police station and encountered Stevenson, who had blood on him and who said he had been robbed on Meadville Street and was injured. Stevenson said he was robbed down the street and had shot an unknown male, and the gun was in his vehicle, according to the affidavit.

Baker told police that an unknown male, later identified as Stevenson, came to the apartment for the purpose of selling marijuana to him. He said the man transported the marijuana in a tool bag, and the man shot him and Imes while inside the apartment, Silva wrote in the affidavit.

Silva wrote in the affidavit filed with the criminal complaint against Baker that Baker told investigators neither he nor Imes “had intentions of financially compensating the victim for the controlled substance” and planned to just take the marijuana from Stevenson on the night of the shooting. Baker also said Imes was armed with a pellet gun during the incident, according to the affidavit.

Baker was subpoenaed to appear in court in July 2015 for Stevenson's preliminary hearing on the initial set of charges filed against him, but he did not show up for the hearing. Stuck-Lewis reviewed during the hearing a videotaped interview that Baker had given to police, despite objections by Stevenson's lawyer, David Ridge, that it was hearsay evidence on which prosecutors were basing their whole case.

Tim Hahn can be reached at 870-1731 or by email. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ETNhahn.